"RRROOOOAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRR!!!!"
A loud roar that momentarily froze the enemy was heard.
A roar that Lavinia instantly recognised, and when she connected her eyes with Sylphy, her Wind Spirit, who was already in the battlefield, watching everything play out and saw how the roar had stopped the enemies who did not even stop when blades pierced through them, she was even surer.
It was Kael.
Lavinia’s head moved up, her exhausted, desperate eyes now had a different shine.
The Sky Kingdom soldiers frowned—
They heard the roar as well, it was already strange since the entire battlefield was no different than the Alliance Army cheering or screaming in fear or pain, different beasts roaring from both sides.
Just the fact that one particular roar could overwhelm all others and be heard throughout the battlefield made it... stand out from the rest.
The Sky Kingdom soldiers wondered what it was until suddenly—
"T-That’s..."
Evelyn’s eyes widened as she realised it.
This wasn’t the first time she heard this, no, she heard it before. Just that... the last time she heard this voice.
They were standing against him.
"That’s... Lord Kael."
She spoke with trembling fingers, recalling the nightmare she saw that day.
The rest of the mages looked at her and frowned, for a moment, they wondered why she was acting like this, soon however, they connected the dots and remembered.
That horrifying day when they stood against Kael.
The day he burned their allies and captured the rest, that too, only because General Aurelia woke up.
They had buried the memory deep in their minds, this was the reason they didn’t recognise it instantly, but now that they did...
"He is here..."
They couldn’t help but smile.
If he was here then...
Then maybe this battle would now turn around.
"Finally..."
Lavinia whispered in a weak, trembling voice as a small smile appeared on her face.
She had stopped the enemy for a while, but the instant they started jumping over the Shield Lines, the battle changed, now, the vines no longer helped because even when she had no intention of doing so, the more vines she created, the more they got in the way of the Alliance soldiers as well.
Not to mention she too, was out of Mana, she couldn’t even keep herself up, she was only pushing herself to the limits, just so she would be able to slow the enemy down, even if it was for a fraction of a second—
However, now that Kael was here, now that he would take care of everything here, Lavinia finally let go of what she had been holding back all this while and she—
She passed out and fell on the ground, as the Magic Circles on the ground faded.
"Kriiii!!!"
"Kyaaa!!"
"Myuuu!!!"
Her Spirits rushed towards her, trying to pick her up but they weren’t much help, after all, they couldn’t interact with the real world.
Fortunately, they weren’t the only ones here.
"Lady Lavinia!"
The Sky Kingdom soldiers called her and rushed inside in panic. They held her, Charlotte, the group’s healer, quickly brought out her Halcyon Lifebloom, a rare Magic Beast who could heal wounds and they began assessing her body.
"It’s nothing big. She is out of Mana, she passed out because she pushed herself too hard. I will strengthen her natural healing, she should be fine after about an hour of rest."
Charlotte nodded.
The Sky Kingdom soldiers sighed in relief.
"So what do we do with her...?"
One of them asked.
They were only here to ’observe’, should they be healing her?
"Well, she is a valuable asset for the Kingdom, we cannot have her die, not after seeing what she can do. Helping her and making her owe us a favour is the only right call here.
This is not participating in their war, it is strengthening our own position. Plus, it is not like she is part of the Heights, helping her doesn’t count as interacting with the Heights’ matters."
Evelyn shrugged.
The others got the hint.
Honestly, at this point, with Kael here, they were at such ease that they didn’t even mind it anymore.
Protecting Lavinia was important since that would be what Lord Kael would want. As for the rest, they would leave it to Kael.
What none of the Sky Kingdom soldiers realised was that despite General Aurelia standing only a few meters away from them, they only felt true relief and ease once they realised Lord Kael was close.
That alone had much stronger implications than any, not that any of those would come out right now.
...
On the other side—
"RRROOOOOAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRR!!"
After using the [Roar of Dominion], Kael’s draconic face returned to normal.
Right now, he was riding on top of Igni, who was pushing forward with his full might.
And unlike what most were expecting, he didn’t come here with an army. They were too slow, much slower than he initially expected.
Kael also realised he couldn’t make them push their limits and march into the battlefield without stopping because then, he would be fighting with exhausted soldiers, who would only push themselves to their deaths if they appeared.
Initially, Kael planned to march with them, to make sure they arrived without any tension and directly participated in the war.
However, the enemy was more terrifying than expected.
Imperia told him everything that was happening, how the enemy did not feel pain, or fear. How they marched forward even when the traps took their allies’ lives.
Till then, Kael kept his sanity.
He trusted Korvath and the others, not to mention Lavinia was there as well. He had seen what preparations they had made, he had expected them to resist the enemy for at least an hour before they managed to breach the gate.
But the enemy was already slamming against the Gate within fifteen minutes and that was his cue.
He told the army to rest a little before he himself jumped into the air, Igni, who had recovered from the battle with the Sky Kingdom soldiers came out as well.
With their speed, it should have only taken them fifteen minutes to reach the Wall, a duration Kael believed the Shield Line would be able to hold on for.
But...
He was wrong.
The Shield Lines could not hold on.
The Alliance troops were being sliced and...
And it was all happening because of him.